Printing plate coating machine



Aug. 22, 1950 c. ZARKIN ET AL 2,519,809

PRINTING PLATE COATING MACHINE Filed Aug. 30, 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet l Aug.22, 1950 c. ZARKIN ETAL PRINTING PLATE COATING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed Aug. 30, 1946 INVENTORS Charles Zarkl'n &

fie! ardfi Hem BY I Aug. 22, 1950 c. ZARKIN ET AL PRINTING PLATE COATINGMACHINE Filed Aug. 30, 1946 s sheets-sheath INVENTQRS Charles Z 0141112& BernardBHavern Patented Aug. 22, 1950 PRINTING PL TE COATING MACHINECharles Zarkin and Bernard H. Halpern, New York, N. Y., assignors tosaid Zarkin Application August 30, 1946, Serial No. 693,846

9 Claims.

The invention disclosed in this patent relates to machines for applyingthe sensitive coatings to printing plates and generally known in the artas whirlers.

Special objects of the invention are to provide such a machine with atop or cover construction which will afford ready inspection, placingand removal of the plates and which while providing full accessibilitywill not require much overhead clearance, even in the large sizemachines and will be so balanced and arranged that it may be easilyopened and closed by one operator and remain in the various positions towhich it may be shifted.

Other important objects of the invention are to provide efficientventilation and drying for the plates.

Further special objects are to accomplish results indicated withoutadding objectionably to. the bulk or cost of the machine.

Other desirable objects attained by the invention will appear in thecourse of the following specification, wherein the novel features of theinvention are set forth and broadly claimed.

The drawings accompanying and forming part of the specificationillustrate present commercial embodiments of the invention. Thestructure, however, may be modified and changed in various respects, allwithin the true intent and broad scope of the invention as hereindefined and claimed.

Fig. 1 in the drawings is a plan view of a Whirler incorporating theinvention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same in closed position, with brokenlines indicating the cover opening operation. i

Fig. 3 is an enlarged broken and part sectional side view with brokenlines indicating the cover opening operation.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged broken sectional detail on substantially the planeof line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Figs. 5 and 6 are broken sectional details of one of the pivotal endconnections for the balancing link, Fig. 6 appearing as on the line 6-6of Fig. 5.

Figs. 7 and 8 are broken sectional details of the reversely disposedhinges for the inner and outer lid sections. j

Figs. 9 and 10 are plan and. side views respectively of a modified formof the invention.

In the whirler shown, the lid or cover is made in three sections, anarrow normally stationary section It] affixed to the tub ll, anintermediate hinged section I2, and a front hinged section I3.

The intermediate or main section I2 is shown hinged to the stationaryback section It) by leaf hinges l4, on top of these sections, as shownin Fig. 7, and the front section I3 is hinged tothe front'edge oftheintermediate section 12 by leaf hinges I5, Fig. 8, at the under sideof these sections. I

This enables the hinges to break as-shown in Fig. 3, with the middlesection !2 folding upward and the forward section it folding downwardwith respect to the middle section supporting it.

The front section is caused to lift in substan tial parallelism with thetub, that is, substantially horizontal at all times, by means of apositioning radius rod or link 16, Figs. 2 and 3, pivotally fulcrumed atI l to a fixed strut I8 projecting upwardly at the back and forwardlyover the top of the tub, and pivotally connected at its forward end atl9 to a lever 28 fixed at 2| on. top of the front lid section andinclined upwardly and rearwardly from the hinge axis of the same.

The positioning link It is shown made up of two rod sections coupled bya turnbuckle 22 adjustable to maintain the parallelogram necessary toeffect the horizontal lifting of the front cover section and to causeboth movable cover sections to close down flat on the rim of the tub.

The lid made up of the two movable cover sections is counter-balanced inthe illustration by two sets of weights 23, 24, Fig. l, at the rear endsof lever arms 25, 26, attached to the top of the rniddle section 52outwardly of the hinges i l and projecting rearwardly from the hingeaxis. The rearward ends of these weight carrying levers are shown inFig. 1 connected by a cross bar 21, which may constitute an integralportion of such levers and in which event the levers and rearwardconnecting part may all be portions of a single U-shaped frame such asillustrated. For lightness and stiffness this U frame may be made ofchannel iron and the weights be in the form of heavy discs secured bythrough bolts 23 on opposite sides of such channel iron frame.

The lid sections may be made of channel or angle iron frames such asindicated at 29, Figs. '7 and 8, covered by sheet aluminum 3%, thisproviding a desirably light but rigid and strong construction.

In the closed position, Figs. 2 and 3, the movable cover sections restflat down on top of the rim of the tub and in this position over-balancethe weights 23, 2d, so as to remain firmly and securely closed duringall ordinary operations of the machine.

To open the lid it is only necessary to apply lifting pressure to themovable front section It. With proper counter-balancing only arelatively slight force is required to start the lifting movement and assuch movement progresses the counterweights, through the leverageprovided by the arms 25, 26, take control and complete the cover openingmovement and hold the cover in partly or fully opened relation. In thefinal position the whole interior of the tub is fully accessible and themovable cover sections are up out of the wayandrclear ofallusualoperations.

The closing of the'cover may be effected 'by a slight downward pull onthe front cover section, just enough force being necessary to overcomethe lifting advantage of the counterweights ,in the lifted position ofthe cover.

For some installations it :maybe desirable -,to have foot-operated orfoot-initiatedmovericlosing or opening mechanism, suchas illustrated inFigs. 1 and 2, and embodying alever 3| pivoted on the base of themachine at 32, carryinggafoot pedal 33 at its forward end and providedwith an incline or cam 34 at its rearward end, arranged to reach underthe weight '24 in its lowered position. With this construction a slightdownwardpressure on the pedal will effect the rocking of thecounterweight lever.26 in a cover closing direction. Ordinarily, withthe construction shown, it may be only necessary to initiate this coverclosing movement, the lid then lowering by its own weight after passingthe-center where the counterweights lose control.

The parts may be made largely of structural steel such as angle andchannel iron. Thus the fulcrum strut 8 for the equalizing rod l5 may besimply a length of channel iron such as shown in Figs-3 and lrbolted at35 to the rim of the tub. Similarly, the bent lever 29, 2!, may be alength of channel iron. The eyes 36 at the ends of the turnbuckle rods,may be pivoted on bolts-37 secured across the flanges of these channelirons, withspacer washers or sleeves 38 holding them in .1proper,:freelypivoting alignment.

.Withall the advantages mentioned andothers that will be apparent fromthis disclosure, the structure is relatively simple and inexpensive.

The parallelogram linkage in association with the-counter-balancinglevers, aids in stabilizing thesmooth easy opening and closing movementsof ."thecover sections and enables the cover .to stand orbe held withlight pressure at any intermediate position between the fully open andclosed positions. The location of the closing pedal at the front of themachine enables the operator to conveniently control the cover openingand closing movements. With a slight lift on ..the,:front cover section,the cover -may be started in the opening direction, finishing suchmovement under-the pull of the counterweights as they gain advantage inthe upward travel of the cover sections. Pressure on the foot pedal maybeutilized to raise the cam. to cheok or stop the opening movement, inaddition to or in place of the usual ornormal purpose of initiating the..cover closing movement. This foot pedal may beconnected and arrangedto initiate or effect the cover opening movement as well, or if desired,one pedal may be providedfor opening and a second pedal for coverclosing-purposes.

While usual to have the rear cover section- 1 0 fixed orstationary, thissectionmay be hingedly or removably connected with the tub to providefurther access for cleaning the rearor innermost portion of the tub.

..In.-some .machines and particularly those of the larger, sizes, it maybe desirable to incorporate ventilating and drying facilities. These areprovided in the machineillustrated in Figs. 9 andlO by equipping thefront cover section l3 with ventilating louvers 40 and by the provisionofa hood 42 for projecting heated air down through the top of the rearcover section I0.

The controls for the heater-blower unit and in fact for the main motorand such other accessories as thermachineqmay have, such ,for example,as tthezredzand white lights 1142, a within the tub may all be locatedat the front of the :machine as on one or more control panels such asvindicated at 45.

-In some instances it may be desirable to pro- .videsa :catchfor-securing the lid in closed posi- .tion, such as-rthe gravity typelatch indicated at 46,,also,a handle such as indicated at 41 forobtaining a convenient grasp on the front cover section.

In the larger size machines it may be desirable toreinforce :the bentlid lifting lever 20, 2| as by struts 48 welded across the angularlyrelated portions of such lever.

In the machine illustrated in Figs. 9'and'10 the counterweight levers25, :26 are ,leftdisconnected-at therear and this machine is shownwithout the ,lid closing footpedal. It should be understood,howeverflthat these features may be incorporated in or left off eitheror both the machines illustrated.

The double hinged parallel motion lid con- Struction; provides maximumaccessibility with a minimum of necessary overhead clearance. Risinghorizontally as it does, the front lid section does-not-require anyadditional overhead space above-that required for theopening of theintermediate cover section. Consequently, these whirlers-may bedocatedinvplaces where it ,would be impossible tousejamachine having avconventional one piece hinged cover.

What is .claimedis:

l. 'Awhirler cover comprising a relatively fixed, stationary cover:section and coplanar movable cover sections,1the movable cover sectionadjoining the stationary section being hingedly connected'therewith ontop of the cover andthe movable sectionsbeing hingedly connectedtogether at-the under :side of the cover, a lever extendingfromone-movable cover section. over the other-movable cover-section towardthe stationary cover section, a fixed strut extending above and ,overthestationary cover section in line with the inner end -,of said lever,.anequalizing link pivotally connected betweensaid strut and said lever andmeans 'f,or counterweighting the combined weight of the movablecover-sections.

:2. A Whirler cover comprising a relatively fixed, stationary ,coversection .and .coplanar movable 1 cover sections, themovablecover-section adjoinins 1 the stationary section being .hingedlyconnected itherewithon top of ,thecover and the movable sections.being1hingedly connected 'toet'herzatitherunderside. of the cover, alever cxtendingfrom one movablecoversection over the other movable coversection toward the stationary-cover section, a fixedstrut extendingabove and overithestationary cover section in line with the inner end ofsaid lever, an equalizing link pivotally connected between said strutand said lever andzmeansifor..counterweighting the combined :rveightofthe movable cover sections includinga: U; frame secured at oppositesides over the :top of :themovable section which is hinged to. thestationary section and having the connectingportion o'f-the'sameextended rearwardly beyondthe hingeaxis of said -cover-section,.andweightson said :side portions of v the i U frame.

;-23..A.whirler1top comprising a sectionalcovcr,

heatenandsblowerll at the rear, having aiflaring 75 the sections:of-saidrcover lbeing 'hins y-wnnected together and the inner one ofsaid sections being fixedly Supported, a lever on the outer of saidcover sections extending rearwardly of the hinge line connecting saidsections, a radius link pivotally connected therewith at one end andpivotally connected on a fixed fulcrum at the opposite end formaintaining the outer of said cover sections in generally horizontalrelation in the opening and closing movements of the cover and means forcounter-balancing the combined cover sections and arranged to overcomethe combined weight as the cover sections are raised and tounder-balance the cover sections as the same approach and reach theclosed position, a foot treadle adjacent the base of the machine andmeans operated thereby for overcoming the advantage of thecounter-balancing means in the raised position of the cover.

4. A whirler top comprising a fixed cover section, an intermediate coversection hinged on top of said fixed cover section and arranged to swingupwardly, a front cover section hinged to the under side of saidintermediate cover section and arranged to swing downwardly as the coversections open upwardly, linkage connected with said front cover sectionfor maintaining the same in general horizontal relation while said coversections are opening upwardly including a lever on the front coversection extending rearwardly of the hinge line connecting that sectionwith the intermediate section and a radius rod pivotally connected withsaid lever, counter-balancing means acting on said intermediate coversection and means for imparting lowering, closing movement to saidhingedly connected cover sections, said radius rod being pivotallyconnected at one end with said lever and pivoted on a fixed fulcrum atthe opposite end.

5. A whirler comprising a tub, an upwardly lifting sectional coverhinged to said tub and including hingedly connected front and back coversections, levers extending from said back cover section past the hingeaxis of said section to the rear of the tub, weights on the rearwardends of said levers, a lever extending from said front cover section onan upward incline rearwardly beyond the hinging axis of said front coversection, a fulcrum strut at the back of said tub and an adjustableradius rod pivotally connected at its opposite ends with said fulcrumstrut and with the rearward end of said upwardly inclined lever.

6. A whirler comprising a tub, a cover hingedly connected with said tuband comprising hingedly connected front, intermediate and back sections,linkage including a rearwardly extending lever on the front coversection and a radius rod pivotally connected therewith for maintainingthe front cover section in substantially horizontal relation duringopening and closing movements of the cover sections, a counter-balancinglever extending from the back cover section rearwardly of the hingingaxis of the same and to the rear of the tub and leverage means engage:-able with said counter-balancing lever in the raised position of thecover sections for imparting lowering, closing movement to the coversections, said back cover section being supported in stationaryrelation, said rearwardly extending lever being secured fast to thefront cover section and projecting rearwardly toward the back coversection and said radius rod being pivotally connected at its forward endwith said lever and pivotally fulcrumed on a fixed center at itsrearward end.

7. A plate coating machine comprising a tub having rear, intermediateand front cover sec tions, said rear cover section being connected instationary relation with the tub structure, a drier at the rear of thetub including a ventilating blower having an entrance way into said rearcover section, the intermediate cover section being hingedly connectedwith said rear cover section and the front cover section being hingedlyconnected with said intermediate cover section and means for controllingand counter-balancing opening movements of said intermediate and frontcover sections including a rearwardly extending lever on the front coversection with a radius rod pivotally connected therewith and a rearwardlyextending counter-balancing lever on said intermediate cover section,said rearwardly extending lever being secured fast to the front coversection and said radius rod being pivotally connected at its front endwith the rearward end of said lever and pivotally fulcrumed on a fixedcenter at its rearward end.

8. A whirler comprising a tub having a back cover section at the back ofthe same, an intermediate cover section hinged on top of said back coversection and arranged to swing upwardly, a front cover section hinged tothe under side of said intermediate cover section and arranged to swingdownwardly as the cover sections open upwardly, linkage connected withsaid front cover section for maintaining the same in general horizontalrelation while said cover sections are opening upwardly andcounter-balancing means acting on said intermediate cover section.

9. A whirler comprising a tub having a back cover section at the back ofthe same, an inter mediate cover section hinged on top of said backcover section and arranged to swing upwardly, a front cover sectionhinged to the under side of said intermediate cover section and arrangedto swing downwardly as the cover sections open upwardly, linkageconnected with said front cover section for maintaining the same ingeneral horizontal relation While said cover sections are openingupwardly and counter-balancing means acting on said intermediate coversection, including a lever extending from said intermediate coversection rearwardly of the hinge thereof and a counterweight on therearwardly extended end of said lever.

CHARLES ZARKIN. BERNARD R. HALPERN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

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